There are many ways to find qualified people who can give you the career advice and assistance you need.Here are my favorites strategies:

The fastest, easiest and most effective strategy is to use the free Advanced People Search function onLinkedIn.com.

Contact your school’s career services office to see if they have a directory of alumni that can be searched by type of jobs, industry, and employer.

Make a list of people you know and the groups you belong to and ask people if they know anyone you could talk to. If you’re thinking, “I don’t have a network!”, click here to read this article.

Attend association meetingsfor the professions and industries that appeal to you. Association members are often very supportive, and elected officers almost always have a large professional network and are typically extremely good at connecting people.

Join and participate in relevant LinkedIn.com groups or blogs.

Attend relevant industry conferences and workshops.

Use Twitter to follow and build relationships with leaders in careers and industries that appeal to you.